The height of that building has sparked conversations in Nashville's real estate circles about how views affect the value of condo units.

"In the long run, it's a great thing," said Grant Hammond, a local condo broker. "While it's being constructed, it's not a great thing for value."

Hammond, whose Facebook post helped to spark the discussion, said, on average, buyers of units in the mid-rise portion of the Icon that faces the Gulch paid up to 10 percent more for those condos because of that Gulch view. He now expects resale values of those units to take a temporary hit, followed by appreciation as benefits — such as more retail options and services that the planned hotel building would bring — start to outweigh loss of some views.

The view issue came up in McCrea's conversation with a friend over lunch on Friday.

"For me the fact it's a hotel and can bring transient business and a diversity of people will help prevent the area from going stale," she said. "To me it's better than the ugly parking lot that I look at now. It will probably get to the point where we don't have to leave the neighborhood for much."

That discussion isn't limited to the Icon, especially as new high-rises pop up around Nashville adjacent to existing towers.

On the same day of the Thompson announcement, Indianapolis-based Buckingham Cos. said Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants would run the hotel planned at its 17-story project that would affect some views from the Adelicia condo tower in Midtown. In the Gulch, Eakin Partners' new 15-story office building underway at 1201 Demonbreun will affect some views from the Twelve Twelve condo tower.

High-value views

In the condo market, views play a significant role in pricing. At the Icon, for instance, units facing downtown on average trade for $100,000 more than those facing Midtown, said condo broker Chad Wohlers. When MarketStreet developed Pine Street Flats apartments, downtown-facing mid-rise units at the Icon lost downtown views to a concrete wall, which caused an immediate 15 percent decline in values.

Wohlers, however, sees a difference with the hotel that will replace a gravel parking lot and won't block the more valuable downtown view. Condo broker Michelle Maldanado of The Lipman Group Sotheby's International Realty, said most people buying in the city understand that their view could change, and it's not a terrible thing when the neighborhood gets an upgrade.

"The moral of the story is not every change in the skyline is a bad change," she said. "People just need to look at the bigger picture — whether the addition is positive for the neighborhood and would positively affect prices."

In the case of Buckingham's project, the affect to the view from the Adelicia — where residents include pop star Taylor Swift — is limited to the side that faces Vanderbilt's campus. And in the area of downtown south of Broadway, developer Tony Giarratana's planned 33-story, 313-unit SoBro apartment tower will affect some views from the Encore condo tower he co-developed.

Hammond estimates that values of condos at the Encore that face the Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown fell 20 percent during construction of that hotel. Although values started to recover, they aren't back to preconstruction levels.

Ray Hensler, who co-developed the Adelicia and Twelve Twelve, where units with solid views of downtown are going for higher prices, said as areas such as the Gulch develop, condo buyers find convenience of walking to restaurants and other amenities as selling points.

"As the market matures, the values of condos will be less reliant on view and more about how walkable the areas immediately outside those condos have become," he added.

He cited value in the more than 1,000 new employees both MarketStreet's Gulch Crossing and Eakin's 1201 Demonbreun office buildings, along with retail space that will be part of those developments, will bring to the Gulch.

Mark Bloom, a real estate investor who was involved with developing the Adelicia and also owns stakes in a pair of downtown area hotels, said what's happening in Nashville isn't unlike other growing cities.

"As more development takes place and the city continues to grow, there will be very few buildings in the urban core that end up with unimpeded views," he added. "It's the price you have to pay to be one of the hottest development cities in the nation."